Vaidehi wil grip male audiences 2:Aruna

'Vaidehi' will grip male audiences too: Aroona Irani

By Subhash K. Jha, Mumbai: One of Bollywood's most enduring character actresses, Aroona Irani has taken on the role of TV producer with gusto and says her new soap "Vaidehi - Ek Aur Agnipariksha" on STAR Plus will lure male audiences too.

Talking about her stint on TV, she told IANS: "Kya karoon? The roles in movies have dried up. There are no moms in Hindi films any longer. All the artistes from my generation are sitting idle at home. So I am just happy making serials and casting myself in a plum role in them.

"In my new soap 'Vaidehi' I have a very nice role. I have decided to do a role in my own serial but only when it's worth doing. Otherwise, I have decided to work in serials outside my production house. Nothing much is left for me to do in films. So far, I was doing any role that required me in my serials. No more of that. Now I'll only be seen on television in good roles."

When asked about the other successful TV tycoon Ekta Kapoor, she said: "Ekta Kapoor is Ekta Kapoor. She's doing really good work. I am working hard. Whether it's Ekta or me, we have to give viewers what they want. We can only serve the food that our guests want. What's the point of cooking rice in kesar when the invitees don't want it? I cannot waste my time, effort and money."

Aroona's previous soap "Rabba Ishq Na Hove" came a cropper on Zee but she says failure is part of life.

"It happens. Everyone, no matter how successful, goes through a bout of non-success. Even Raj Kapoor and Yash Chopra have given flops. I am sure even David Lean had his lean phase. Success ratios have their way of finding their level.

"But I was very happy with 'Rabba Ishq Na Hove'. Everyone liked it. But I was disappointed. Once you taste a spicy pickle you want it to spice up your life constantly."

In "Vaidehi", Aroona has moved away from her favourite actress Sangeeta Ghosh.

"Sangeeta is doing other shows. When 'Rabba Ishq Na Hove' didn't catch on, Sangeeta got into another serial. By the time the protagonist in 'Vaidehi' began to concretise I needed an ordinary working class girl who could look like she lives in a chawl. That's how my heroine Pallavi Kulkarni looks...very innocent, one of the crowd."

Aroona promises a different experience in "Vaidehi".

"It's about a girl who spurns marriage to a rich man and how he finally brings her around. After marriage she encounters a weird problem in her in-laws' house.

"I'm sure every woman in the audience will identify with Vaidehi's predicament. And why just women? Why do we restrict our soaps to female gender? 'Vaidehi' will grip male audiences too. Like all my serials, 'Vaidehi' is totally different from what I have done so far.

"But again I go into the territory of love and passion. Is there any life without love? It needn't be the love of a husband or boyfriend. There are so many kinds of love in this universe. Love needn't be about a man and woman alone."

"Vaidehi" replaces "Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin" on Sony Entertainment. Isn't Aroona scared of audiences comparing her show with the earlier one?

"I have never shied away from competition. My first show on STAR Plus was the super-successful 'Des Mein Nikla Hoga Chand'. And that replaced 'Kaun Banega Crorepati'. God has to be on one's side. I believe 'Rabba Ishq No Hove' didn't work because god wasn't on our side. It started last year on July 26 when Mumbai was swept away by the rains.

"We had to re-telecast the first episode because of the downpour. The soap went downhill from there. Call it bad luck, call it anything."

She is optimistic now. "'Vaidehi' is my only baby right now. I have no movies on hand. People think I am not working. And the directors in Bollywood don't have any roles for me. I will play good roles on TV."